


The Dakota File: Entry 1

by SpaceVinci



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Gen, Mentioned Character Death, Mississippi Purchase, Nuclear Winter, Vincent Drowssap, mentions of nuclear war, young Dakota
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27013600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceVinci/pseuds/SpaceVinci
Summary: Two agents attempt to stop WWIII, and find something unexpected instead.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	The Dakota File: Entry 1

**Holovid Mission Update | Recorded 12.25.1962**

The status update opens to the interior of an agency-issued time travel car. The man in the driver’s seat bears a striking resemblance to an actor from a film from the exact year in which he records the holovid, albeit in a different timeline. The woman in the passenger seat is made up in elaborate layers of cosmetics and jewelry. Behind them, the windows show a landscape in complete ruin; buildings lie in mounds of rubble, and the air is more chalky ash than otherwise.

“Status update number five,” the man says, glancing at the camera. He is driving, and the scene outside the windows rolls past behind him, bleaker and bleaker. “We haven’t quite found the exact moment that started World War Three yet, but we’re getting closer. At first we tried the end of World War Two, and then the formation of Soviet Russia, but none of -”

“Oh, would you just get to the point?” the woman drawls. “You already covered this in previous updates. Just say what we found this time.”

“I’m _getting_ there,” the man snaps. He clears his throat. “Right. Soviet Russia, blah, blah, blah, uh… Darnit, Savannah, you made me lose my train of thought.”

“Mississippi.”

There is a bit of movement behind them that neither notices. The man grumbles something at Savannah that the microphones do not pick up, and as he does so, a dirty mop of curly brown hair shifts into view from the back seat.

“Right! Mississippi. We’ve known for a while now that Mississippi was the target for the first bomb, but until now we hadn’t yet discovered why. We have now found evidence of a Cuban cult who found their way here, and managed to invade and capture the state.”

The head in the backseat becomes fully visible. It belongs to a young teenager, cheeks and eyes sunken and olive skin flecked with the ashen debris visible outside of the windows. He wears clothes that appear scavenged and in dire need of soap and thread. He squints against the light of the vehicle’s interior. When he speaks, his voice cracks with puberty.

“No, they bought it.”

The man’s eyes go wide, and Savannah whips her head around.

“How did you get in here?” she demands. “Who _are_ you?”

“Vincent Drowssap,” the boy replies. “Who are you?”

“That’s none of your concern,” the man says tightly. “What are you doing here?”

Vincent hesitates. “You don’t have very good locks. And it’s cold outside, so…”

“It is _nuclear winter_ outside,” Savannah says. “No way have you survived this close to the crash site. Who are you really? Who do you work for?”

Vincent’s eyes widen, then quickly flicker shut again against the light. “No one, I swear. I - I snuck out of the bunker, it’s _Christmas_ , I thought maybe I could find - but then I saw your car and _please_ don’t hurt me, my - my mother’s sick, radiation poisoning, she’s gonna _die_ , you can’t kill me because I have to take care of her and -”

The man cuts him off. “We’re not going to hurt you. But you have to tell us what you know.”

Vincent nods enthusiastically. “Anything you want, boss.”

“You said they bought it,” says Savannah. “Explain.”

“Yeah, the Cubans. Some of the Cubans. Las Nueces Limpias or something like that, I can’t remember. They bought Mississippi and then sold it to the KGB—no, wait, were they against the KGB? Gimme a minute, I’ll remember, uh -”

Savannah lets out a frustrated sound. “How do you not remember?”

“Go easy on him, would you?” the man says out of the corner of his mouth. “He’s just a kid.”

“But yeah, that’s where it all started,” Vincent continues. By the way the agents’ postures freeze, it is clear he has their attention. “The Mississippi Purchase. That’s when the war really broke out. That’s what my mom always said, anyway.” There is a bitter twist to his voice here, and it shows on his face. Contorted in weariness and resigned hatred and squinting against the light, it is easy to forget that the boy can’t be older than 15. Or maybe it is all too easy to remember.

There follows a pause in which the man seems to be contemplating something.

“What if,” he begins, “you could stop it from happening? How would you do that?”

Savannah glares at him. “Brick!”

“You’re time travelers, right?” says Vincent. At the obvious surprise on the agents’ faces, he says merely, “I mean, it wasn’t that hard to figure out.”

“We are _not_ taking him with us,” says Savannah. She is met with a doleful, pleading expression from Brick. “Where’s your bunker, kid? We’ll drop you off.”

“Wait!” Vincent yelps, “I could be useful! I - I know my way around Mississippi, I can get you into the cult, I - I look kinda Cuban, I can -”

“How did your mother die?” Savannah interrupts.

Vincent says, “Got in the way of some looters. And there aren’t exactly, ya know, hospitals. Anymore,” before he remembers—if the panicked look that flickers across his face is any indication—that he had previously claimed his mother was sick and in need of care.

Savannah sighs. “Look. Kid. If you’re gonna lie, learn to do it better. Thanks for the intel, but we’ll take it from here.”

Vincent pauses. “You’re not gonna take me with you, are you?”

Brick begins saying something, but is cut off by Savannah saying, “Can’t. But hey, kid, don’t worry. If all goes well, none of this will have ever happened.”

Vincent nods, slow and thoughtful. Then suddenly, with a flurry of motion, he vaults himself over the seat back and lunges for the controls. For a single frame, the light catches on a glint of rusted metal at his side—he has a knife, and is concealing it well. The agents both yell in overlapping protest, and Savannah reaches out to grab Vincent.

The holovid ends abruptly.

**Author's Note:**

> I might write more for this idea (trust me, I have a LOT of thoughts about Dakota’s past and the complications and logistics of his timeline), but I figured I’d post this little snippet to see overall response.
> 
> If you want more snapshots from Dakota’s past as I imagine it, let me know!


End file.
